Western Illinois names Bob Nielson new football coach

Bob Nielson left the Western Illinois campus on Monday with a very good feeling. On Wednesday he returned as the 27th head football coach in the university’s history. “This is a great opportunity, and a great challenge. A great challenge always brings with it great opportunity,” Niels...

Bob Nielson left the Western Illinois campus on Monday with a very good feeling. On Wednesday he returned as the 27th head football coach in the university’s history.

“This is a great opportunity, and a great challenge. A great challenge always brings with it great opportunity,” Nielson said Wednesday at his introductory news conference.

“I believe that the future of Western Illinois football is bright and we can accomplish much. For the past 13 years, great people kept me in Duluth, Minn. Earlier this week I was impressed by another group of people whose passion for Western Illinois University football was overwhelming to me.”

Nielson comes to Western with 20 years of head coaching experience, the last 10 of which cover two five-year stints at Division II Minnesota-Duluth where he also served as athletics director.

Nielson has a 170-59-1 record as a head coach, which also includes stops at Ripon, Wartburg and Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Nielson’s Bulldogs have made the Division II playoffs in each of the last five seasons, including national championships with perfect 15-0 records in 2008 and 2010. This year, Minnesota-Duluth finished 10-2 after being eliminated in the first round.

“Wins and losses are one thing, and national championships are another thing, but he was the guy that sold us,” Western Illinois athletics director Tim Van Alstine said. “The best part of it is that he was interviewing us as much as we were interviewing him. I think we can see that he wouldn’t take this position if he didn’t think he could win.”

Nielson interviewed on campus Monday. On Tuesday the decision was made and the details were worked out on his five-year contract. Wednesday morning, he told his UMD players he was leaving. The news conference followed later that day.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. When you invest 13 or 14 years of your life like I have at Minnesota-Duluth, it’s emotional,” Nielson said fighting back tears. “That was tough telling my team this morning that I was leaving. A coach I look up to once said, if you don’t get emotional about your players you shouldn’t be in the business.”

Nielson was impressed by the administration’s commitment to the success of the football program, which was echoed in university president Dr. Jack Thomas’s introductory remarks.

“Football is one of our athletic signature programs and we have found a coach who will help us showcase our football program,” Thomas said. “More importantly, we have found a coach that will help us win games and to win national championships.”

Nielson replaces Mark Hendrickson, who was fired after the Leathernecks went 5-17 the past two seasons and 12-33 over the past four. Hendrickson finished above .500 finish only once, in 2010.

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Nielson comes in with a proven history as a program-builder, one of the most important qualities Van Alstine outlined when the search began.

“I enjoy building, and if you look at my track record I took over programs that needed a little push forward,” Nielson said. “That part of the situation here didn’t scare me, and maybe more so than some coaches, it excited me. Everybody I spoke with talked about how important this program is to the university and community. I wanted to be a part of that.”

Kevin Capie can be reached at 686-3214, kcapie@pjstar.com or on Twitter at KevinCapie.